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Upstate

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Just my personal opinion, but I think many in the media are really underselling the significance of losing Kemba. He's really a once-every-30-years kind of player. Do you guys feel the same way? Do you think his leadership and fire are going to be missed, and this fact is getting thrown to the wayside? Or is someone, or everyone cumulatively, is going to be able to step up in that regard? Kemba had huge stones. Just doesn't seem that easy to replace a guy like him. Excited for GameDay.
 
The hope is that between Shabazz, Oriakhi, Lamb and Boatright they will each step up and fill the void collectively. Kemba had an unreal Jr. year and I can only think of a few others who were so important to their team in a championship run. Danny Manning in 88 comes to mind, and perhaps John Wallace from Syracuse in the final 4 run in 96.
 
Those are questions that the coaches are addressing as we type. There are no definitive answers, Its wait and see. Remember too you have to put Kemba in the context of one season and not his career.

Therefore Kemba is not irreplaceable, however he is not easy to replace. It will take a collective effort that's for sure.
 
Upstate said:
Just my personal opinion, but I think many in the media are really underselling the significance of losing Kemba. He's really a once-every-30-years kind of player. Do you guys feel the same way?.
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He's really a once-every-30-years kind of player--PG or overall? I disagree either way...

but agree 100% that no kemba = growing pains... if Lamb has the eye of the tiger then it will be a less of a bumpy road
 
I disagree on the once every 30 year player. Hey, Kemba was great for UConn, but, just in the last 15 years we've had RIP, Kahlid, Caron, Emeka, &Ben. Let alone Donyell, Ray, and many others.
 
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Upstate said:
Just my personal opinion, but I think many in the media are really underselling the significance of losing Kemba.
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Kemba's loss has been factored in. Why else would we be ranked only 4th?
 
Upstate said:
Just my personal opinion, but I think many in the media are really underselling the significance of losing Kemba. He's really a once-every-30-years kind of player. Do you guys feel the same way? Do you think his leadership and fire are going to be missed, and this fact is getting thrown to the wayside? Or is someone, or everyone cumulatively, is going to be able to step up in that regard? Kemba had huge stones. Just doesn't seem that easy to replace a guy like him. Excited for GameDay.
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Kemba was great. He was particularly great at hitting game winners. This team doesn't have that player established yet. However, Drummond is (unless he plays worse than Fab Melo as a freshman) a huge upgrade over at the 4/5 from last year. Our starting 4/5 averaged either 3 and 3 or less last year, depending on if you are talking about Olander or Okwaundu. I say Drummond easily doubles that, if not better.

Lamb, Oriakhi, Napier and Smith all are starters who have the ability to grow by leaps and bounds over last year.

Giffey and Olander probably see some improvement. Then you replace Beverly with Boatright (should be a pretty good upgrade) and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel with DD (at worse a toss up).

Of course no single player will be Kemba Walker, but the team was so young last year, you expect improvement almost to a man which should fill the void left by Kemba. Also, as witnessed almost every year, UConn plays fantastic defense which will keep them in many games and then some. Personally, I hope the offense is so balanced that they don't need a Kemba to hit winners, but rather are winning by a substantial margin.
 
Upstate said:
Just my personal opinion, but I think many in the media are really underselling the significance of losing Kemba. He's really a once-every-30-years kind of player. Do you guys feel the same way? Do you think his leadership and fire are going to be missed, and this fact is getting thrown to the wayside? Or is someone, or everyone cumulatively, is going to be able to step up in that regard? Kemba had huge stones. Just doesn't seem that easy to replace a guy like him. Excited for GameDay.
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Why does a Syracuse fan care about UConn? Unless, of course, you feel threatened and are looking for something to make you feel better about your team. Personally, I feel that your school threw the Big East under the bus and the "cuse" would have been nothing without the Big East. You should be ashamed of your school.
 
Huskymaniac said:
Why does a Syracuse fan care about UConn? Unless, of course, you feel threatened and are looking for something to make you feel better about your team. Personally, I feel that your school threw the Big East under the bus and the "cuse" would have been nothing without the Big East. You should be ashamed of your school.
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No they shouldn't. If the ACC had come to Pitt and UConn we would all be saying what a great move it was in a dieing BE and how great we are to be asked to jump. They did what was best for them. Are they supposed to make less money to stay in a conference that has no real direction? The previous exodus was horrible and wrecked the league when it could have been saved. Any jump after that is just survival of the fittest. You can't fault any team for leaving considering how the bball only schools held everyone else hostage.
 
Kemba's 24 will have to be replaced by committee. Napier ran the team last year at about 24 minutes per game. The other 16 Kemba was the point guard. Napier, Lamb together averaged 18ppg. It's safe to assume that it will about about 26ppg between them this year. Add 8 from Boatright and that's 34. That leaves roughly 18 points to make up from losing Kemba, Chuck and Donnel. You have to assume that Smith and Oriakhi will improve by at least 1ppg. That's 16 points left. Throw in Deandre Daniels for 6ppg and Andre Drummond for 10ppg and the offensive production is made up. Defensively Uconn should be just as good if not better due to basically owning the glass with 6'10 Drummond, 6'9 Oriakhi (510 pounds between them) and 6'8 Smith and/or Daniels. Kemba's perimeter defense will be missed but should be offset by improvement in the paint.
 
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Kemba certainly will be missed, there's no doubt about that. However, like others have mentioned it all depends on how the returning players do this season. Can Lamb keep up what did during Tourny play? Can Bazz step up at the point and be the leader this team needs to run the offense? So and so forth.
 
It's not the scoring- it's having the guy who when the other team goes on a 10 point run smiles at them and then makes them pay.

I was worried about being an elite team again without Kemba- I think AD makes all the difference in the world. We have one of the best defensive teams in the country (even without kemba)- but but we were a bit weak in the paint and at the PG. I am not that worried anymore.

I also think besides one of the best front courts in the country you would be hard pressed to find four wings (including Lamb) that will be better in March. DD,RS, NG, JL.

If Bazz and Boat can play smart- watch out.

WE ARE DOOMED!!!!

I love posting after drinks- I am so spot on.
 
Almost every National Championship team loses some key players. We lost our most important, but only one of 4 starters. Our backup center is replaced by Drummond - a huge upgrade. Our tertiary point is replaced by Boatright - again, a significant upgrade is pre-season reports are to be believe. Our oft meligned secondary wing is replace by Daniels which should be an upgrade or at worst a wash if you consider 3rd year vs first year. Really a lot of upgrades in general. That means some improvement by the other 7 guys should replace most of what we lost in terms of scoreing and defense. The big thing we have to have is a go to guy at the end of close games (Lamb hopefully) and a leader (Napier hopefully).

Yeah, Kemba is a huge loss, but new guys and experience we're expecting to equal a huge gain.
 
The thought of a season without Kemba scared me. Until I remembered that the bus is still being driven by JC. Then I wasn't worried any more.
 
No doubt Kemba is a big loss, but IMO his gross production will be made up by committee. It's the late game winning time heroics he provided that's hard to replace. Close games are inevitable during one-and-done tourneys, and the difference between moving on and going home is having that player that's not afraid to fail though succeeds more times than not. Do we have that type of player or players? I hope so. We sure had one last season who gave us a season to remember.
 
It's a toss up. Kemba had a spectacular season. Not many people not named Michael Jordan, had as many winning clutch shots when games were on the line. He willed an inexperienced team (only Alex had significant experience besides Kemba) to win. He frequently out hustled other players for loose balls and rebounds. There is no way of knowing if these contributions can be replaced.

The excitement for most of us is that in the post season Alex and the freshmen showed poise and contributed significantly to that championship run. The question is whether they can do this without the crutch of Kemba.

jleves analysis of the freshman vs. who the freshman replace is spot on. AD is a potential game changer. So we'll find out over the course of the season if the ranking is correct.
 
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I might add that I do not blame Quse for leaving- I blame pitt- they are scum and will start their slow decline toward BC status as soon as they get to the ACC.

PE-TOOWEY! I spit on them.
 
Huskymaniac said:
Why does a Syracuse fan care about UConn? Unless, of course, you feel threatened and are looking for something to make you feel better about your team. Personally, I feel that your school threw the Big East under the bus and the "cuse" would have been nothing without the Big East. You should be ashamed of your school.
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Don't be mad because Syracuse left for the ACC, just asking a simple question and got some good answers. It's not easy replacing not only a great player, but a great leader. Its funny, because I'm sure most UConn fans would rather be in a stable situation than in the Big East. You're acting as if I was being negative about anything. Kemba was a special player. Special players are much more difficult to replace than solely a great player.
 
Just curious, but I see a lot of Cuse fans blowing up how good Cuse is, yet they lost their best and most consistently good player in Jackson.
 
Kemba absolutely was a special player, and I think his leadership is really what's going to be difficult to replace. He didn't have signature games in either the national semis or championship game, and other players stepped up and made up the void. That makes me suspect UConn will be able to make up for his numbers. The question is whether Bazz, Napier, and AO can consistently be relied upon to play championship-caliber basketball, especially in tight games against good teams.

On paper, this year's UConn team is pretty damned stacked with a much more formidable frontcourt than last year. We're going to see how the returning players handle having the weight of expectations and leadership on their shoulders. That's not something that can be readily predicted.

I do think that by tourney time, UConn will be a team no one wants any part of.
 
we have talent, size, speed, depth, athletes, length and basketball IQ at every position

I love Kemba, and he is a special player. But it's a mistake to think he won it by himself

We have 6 guys that played key roles returning, and 3 sensational freshmen.

We have a squad of lottery picks, more than I've ever seen.

We'll have a very good offensive team, but our defense and rebounding will be off the charts. Maybe our best ever

I actually think people are weighing the loss of Kemba too much. I expect to be back in NO
 
Upstate said:
Don't be mad because Syracuse left for the ACC, just asking a simple question and got some good answers. It's not easy replacing not only a great player, but a great leader. Its funny, because I'm sure most UConn fans would rather be in a stable situation than in the Big East. You're acting as if I was being negative about anything. Kemba was a special player. Special players are much more difficult to replace than solely a great player.
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It's a good question and time will tell. Many of us feel that Kemba had the greatest season of any Husky. It looks like we have the best freshman class ever (at least in terms of quality if not quantity) and so the talent level may well be higher, but the intangibles.......who knows. The whole team followed Kemba last year and so we had everyone playing defined roles and little dissension of any kind. This year we seem to have a very unexpected surplus of riches and it will be fun to see what will happen.
 
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willie99 said:
I actually think people are weighing the loss of Kemba too much.
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See, I think the loss of Kemba will be greater than people realize, thats all. Ton of talent on UConn. Just curious if you guys think someone will be able to take over games like he could, and hit the game winner like he had a knack for. It'll be interesting to see how the season plays out. More talent across the nation than there has ever been in my eyes.
 
Let's not lose sight of the fact that this is a very talented, very YOUNG group that had a chance to play and be lead by Kemba. That will rub off. Now they just have to establish their own identity. I personally think they'll play with a chip in wanted to prove they can win without Kemba.

Talent-wise, this is more talented team than last year. Andre Drummond is the top pick in the draft in 2012. And you also add Boatright/Daniels and give a group of freshman an offseason to physically mature. It's impossible to guage chemistry on paper, but the pieces are there. They should be the most physically imposing/talented team in the country.
 
Upstate said:
See, I think the loss of Kemba will be greater than people realize, thats all. Ton of talent on UConn. Just curious if you guys think someone will be able to take over games like he could, and hit the game winner like he had a knack for. It'll be interesting to see how the season plays out. More talent across the nation than there has ever been in my eyes.
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Uconn was 9-9 in the league last year with Kemba - I think they will do better than that.
 
Upstate, I'm with you. People are, IMO, underestimating the impact of losing Kemba.

2 years ago, we lost practically every single close game. Least clutch UConn team I've ever seen.

Last year, we won all those games. Kemba was the reason why.

So yeah, I'm concerned, especially about end-of-game situations. I don't want Napier trying to take the last shot, and Lamb's great but he can't break down people off the dribble like Kemba could. Kemba simply carried us.

HAVING SAID THAT, I do think that we have more overall talent on this squad, when you consider all of the improvements by our players plus the addition of AD, DD and RB. But we'll lose some heartbreakers. Hopefully not in March though!
 
Upstate said:
See, I think the loss of Kemba will be greater than people realize, thats all. Ton of talent on UConn. Just curious if you guys think someone will be able to take over games like he could, and hit the game winner like he had a knack for. It'll be interesting to see how the season plays out. More talent across the nation than there has ever been in my eyes.
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Kemba was great, he was great from the start and everyone allowed the Kemba Show to take place when the game was on the line. They actually went out of their way at times to find Kemba and deliver the ball to him seemingly too often. Well good news is they already know as of Oct 15th he is not there. They have plenty of talent to recover and will win games by committee or Lamb. Also what people forget is this team will be really really good on defense as it was down the stretch. Kemba was a good defender but not great and the improvement of Bazz, Lamb, Oriahki, Roscoe and Giffey was spectacular and they bought into the defensive world which is Storrs and JC. They locked people down and made possesssions tough at best - now add Bradley, Drummond, Daniels and Boatright they get faster and longer. They will not need as many dramatic "game-winners" if they play defense the way they are capable. They play it better than anyone and if the rookies buy in to the plan they will be scary on that end alone. The offense will be fine!!!
 
If we have any chance at a FF this year we will not be in as many close games as last year- if we are- we will not sniff the FF.

Defense Defense Defense. If this team is as good as we hope it will be we have a chance to be the best defensive team in the country- or right there at the top- play good D and let the O develop as the season progresses. I will be very happy if we shut other teams down enough to win games early and the offense picks up later.
 
.-.
My wife and I just spent the last four days watching the BE tournament. Lest we forget, Kemba smashed the record for all time scoring in that tournament.

On defense Kemba was the best on ball defender for the team. He didn't always play the opponents best player, but I think that was deliberate to reduce his chances of getting into foul trouble. When he did play the best player he was mostly glued to his player. I can't say the same for Jeremy or Shabazz.

He was also incredibly good at getting rebounds, both on the offensive and defensive ends, which Shabazz has not demonstrated his freshman year. I'm less concerned with this particular loss because CO and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel were poor rebounders and Kemba was needed to offset their weakness. I believe AD and DD will be significant upgrades in rebounding and provide more than enough to offset Kemba's loss in rebounding.

On Kemba's offense there is very little that can be said which people don't know. He could drive to the basket and complete as good as anyone in college bb. His handle was incredible and his mid range game was outstanding. His only weakness was his 3 point shooting and even that was respectable. He was a good passer. He was not as good a pg as MW, DS, AJP or KEA. His mindset was focused on getting to the basket. But the lack of seeing the floor and getting the ball to other players was more than offset by his ability to create for himself and score or get fouled.

I watched Shabazz running the team. He sees the floor much better than Kemba and he should develop into a much better passer. He may ultimately be a better 3 point shooter. The big problem is his handle and speed at getting to the basket. He had a lot of problems losing the ball when trying to drive past his defender. And he takes a lot of time getting the offense set in the half court.

If I compared his offensive game to anyone it would have to be AJ's his first season as a Husky, although not as good as AJ in hitting the 3 or driving to the basket. The offense bogged down during the time Kemba sat out in the Ville game. Although a good part of that bogging down was due to the miscues in passing by RS and turnovers by JL. The big difference between Shabazz and AJ their first seasons was AJ did not have Kemba to give the ball to as the clock wound down.

On defense he is ahead of AJ's first season considerably. And Shabazz has incredibly quick hands to cause steals or turnovers.

It will be interesting to see how much Shabazz can improve this season. He will have to speed up his playmaking in the half court otherwise UConn will end up with the clock running down and taking last second shots. My money is Shabazz will improve to approximate the level of AJ's second season. I'm with Nomar and think it is a blessing in disguise the first part of the season isn't challenging. If Shabazz does become this AJ type player, this will be another incredible season.

As a side note, I couldn't believe how much CO and DB contributed in helping UConn in that five game streak.
 
Upstate said:
Just my personal opinion, but I think many in the media are really underselling the significance of losing Kemba. He's really a once-every-30-years kind of player. Do you guys feel the same way? Do you think his leadership and fire are going to be missed, and this fact is getting thrown to the wayside? Or is someone, or everyone cumulatively, is going to be able to step up in that regard? Kemba had huge stones. Just doesn't seem that easy to replace a guy like him. Excited for GameDay.
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Certainly Kemba will be missed. BUT I think the experience and growth (they say the best thing about Freshmen / rookies is that they become Sophomores) of last year's freshman class - Napier, Olander, Giffey, Lamb, Smith, Wolf - cannot be understated. Then on top of that you add and outstanding incoming class with an incredible talent leading the way, and you bring back a solid guy like Oriakhi, and that could be enough to overcome such a loss.

The fact really is that we don't know how the team will respond to the biggest loss, and that is Kemba's leadership. As good as he was ON the court - points and assists can be replaced - what he really brought to the team was intangible. They can definitely make up the points and the assists, but what about the leadership ? What about team chemistry ? Overall, as I said above, this team may be good enough - talent wise - that it doesn't need that kind of leadership, and they can overcome the loss of Walker.
 
Hi Dead- good seeing you over here on the new site.

The NBA lockout may not help any team in the country more then UCONN because Kemba has been with the team and "coaching them" as much as it has been possible. I am sure the conversations are different then last year-but with such a young team it has to help having Ray and Kemba basically living in Storrs a and working with the team.
 
Upstate said:
Just curious if you guys think someone will be able to take over games like he could, and hit the game winner like he had a knack for.
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Lamb already showed that ability last season. Is it possible he'll feel more pressure this year and regress ? I suppose that's possible, though I highly doubt it. Napier also showed a knack for that, and while he may not have MADE as many as he took, he was certainly not shy about trying to be clutch. I think they'll be fine as far as "clutch" performers go.
 
nomar said:
2 years ago, we lost practically every single close game. Least clutch UConn team I've ever seen.

Last year, we won all those games. Kemba was the reason why.
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Simply not true. They lost 9 games in conference, including losses to ND by 3 (twice), Louisville by 1 in OT, and Marquette by 7 in OT. The simple fact is, they did not win all those games. AND, the argument could be made that in at least a couple of those close games, they may have been TOO reliant on Kemba.
 
.-.
Whether the team is better in single possession is debatable but I doubt it. I don't think there will be nearly as many game coming down to the last shot, though.
 
Scot-e said:
Hi Dead- good seeing you over here on the new site.

The NBA lockout may not help any team in the country more then UCONN because Kemba has been with the team and "coaching them" as much as it has been possible. I am sure the conversations are different then last year-but with such a young team it has to help having Ray and Kemba basically living in Storrs a and working with the team.
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Totally agree here. The last time they had a work stoppage it was no coincidence that they won a championship. With all the NBA guys contributing this fall, the impact should be extensive.

BTW, thanks for noticing!
 
Nully said:
I've heard there's a 6' PG walk-on guard with a large, conspicuous mustache named Ken Walton who's looking VERY impressive in practice.
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AWESOME
 
Kemba was the fortunate recipient of a couple of factors;
his game and leadership abilities,
his playing on an incredibly young team that looked to him for leadership and was willing to follow,
his performances giving the youngsters time to develop,
his "game winners" (hit many more than he missed)

By the time the BET started, the team was basically mid pack in the BE, a likely Tourney Team, but nothing special. That Kemba was who he was, did what he did, and in a timeframe that allowed the youth to gel; that's what lead to that special season.
This year the recipe will be different. Others on the team are familiar with the BE (the physical game, the night in and night out "bring your best or lose") and the experience of one and done tourney play.

Kemba doesn't have to replaced - the needs of this year's squad will be different. Those needs will either be filled or not - that's why we watch the games.....
 
Why do we throw the GREAT word around. Kemba had a year to remember. He hit some amazing last second shots. He averaged over 20pts. His shot improved over his previous years. He certainly evolved into THE LEADER on the team. I loved the guy, but GREAT? JC dig a magnificent job coaching and I must admit, that over the years I questioned his substitution philosophy. Last year though, he made all the right moves. His utilization of BAZZ was masterful. The team chemistry was very good, and the guard coaching was super.Bazz will be the leader this year, but JC will be the reason they have a another run. As Special as Kemba was, so too were his supporting cast. I feel this will be a special year too.
 
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sparky said:
Why do we throw the GREAT word around. Kemba had a year to remember. He hit some amazing last second shots. He averaged over 20pts. His shot improved over his previous years. He certainly evolved into THE LEADER on the team. I loved the guy, but GREAT? JC dig a magnificent job coaching and I must admit, that over the years I questioned his substitution philosophy. Last year though, he made all the right moves. His utilization of BAZZ was masterful. The team chemistry was very good, and the guard coaching was super.Bazz will be the leader this year, but JC will be the reason they have a another run. As Special as Kemba was, so too were his supporting cast. I feel this will be a special year too.
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Kemba was great. I think Jim Calhoun would be the first person to tell you that. Jim is a great coach and I think the emergence of several of last year's "diamond in the rough" recruits are testament to that fact, but I also think, and I think JC would agree, that the fact that last years team was able to gel the way they did, and go on such a magical run had more to do with #15 than some people even realize.

Yes there were growing pains during the Big East season as the team adjusted to being overly reliant on Kemba (as opposing defenses packed the middle with zones to prevent him from getting to the rim), but Kemba made his teamates better on the court and off. Whether it was opening space for Lamb to become his side-kick scorer, opening the lane for Oriakhi to clean the glass, or just pushing his teammates to become as good as they could be. Kemba was great.

That said this years team will be very good. I think the fact that Lamb will be ready to step up this season, and Shabazz and Oriakhi will be ready to lead will be a testament to Kemba's greatness, not detract from it.
 
sparky said:
Why do we throw the GREAT word around. Kemba had a year to remember. He hit some amazing last second shots. He averaged over 20pts. His shot improved over his previous years. He certainly evolved into THE LEADER on the team. I loved the guy, but GREAT? JC dig a magnificent job coaching and I must admit, that over the years I questioned his substitution philosophy. Last year though, he made all the right moves. His utilization of BAZZ was masterful. The team chemistry was very good, and the guard coaching was super.Bazz will be the leader this year, but JC will be the reason they have a another run. As Special as Kemba was, so too were his supporting cast. I feel this will be a special year too.
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While I agree the word 'great' is thrown around all too often....

If Kemba (2010-11) was not 'great', then who was/is?
 
Deadrody said:
Simply not true. They lost 9 games in conference, including losses to ND by 3 (twice), Louisville by 1 in OT, and Marquette by 7 in OT. The simple fact is, they did not win all those games. AND, the argument could be made that in at least a couple of those close games, they may have been TOO reliant on Kemba.
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Well obviously we lost 9 games. But the team played like crap, and most of the time we were facing larger deficits rather than squandering leads or playing poorly down the stretch. The Louisville game was notable for how it stands out in retrospect.

I stand by what I said. Last year's team was the clutchest UConn team ever. When the game was close, I knew we'd win. That's a year after knowing we would lose if we didn't have a 6 point lead with a minute to go.

The team got better when Lamb became a real #2. It took a while for that to happen.

Too reliant? That's second guessing and it assumes the Lamb of March. We had a bad stretch, that's all. We weren't choking away games, we were just losing them. This season we may blow a lot more people out, but down the stretch in games I worry about replacing Kemba as a clutch 1-on-1 player. People who aren't are in for a rude awakening, I think.
 
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